A view of a flooded area after heavy rain in Hong Kong, China, Sept. 8, 2023. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo
Hong Kong closed schools on Thursday after authorities issued the second-highest rain signal and warned of extensive flooding, just days after the Asian financial hub was drenched by the heaviest rain since records began 140 years ago.
The city’s weather observatory issued the “red” signal before 6 a.m. local time, saying rain exceeding 50 millimetres in an hour is falling and likely to continue.
“Heavy rain will bring flash floods and flooding is occurring or expected to occur in watercourses,” it said.
Hong Kong’s stock market will remain open unless the highest “black” signal is issued.
The heavy rain comes as the city is still repairing damage caused by torrential rain linked to typhoon Haikui which passed nearby in recent days. Many areas of the mountainous city still have a high landslide risk after the unusually wet weather.
Some areas of the city such as Tsueng Kwan O and Sai Kung were still struggling with flooding from earlier in the week. A luxury house in the affluent Tai Tam area overlooking the ocean was ordered to be evacuated on Saturday due to risk of collapse.
Here are today’s top news, analysis, and opinion. Know all about the latest news and other news updates from Hindustan Times.
A man looks at a swollen Beas River following heavy rains in Kullu, Himachal Pradesh.(AP)
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Heavy to very heavy rain is likely in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand from August 22-24, said the India Meteorological Department (IMD). Meanwhile, four people died in a fresh landslide in Uttarakhand’s Tehri district.
SDRF carries out rescue work following a landslide in Uttarakhand’s Tehri district. (India Today)
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued an ‘orange alert’ for heavy to very heavy rain in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand from August 22-24.
The weather body also warned of a moderate risk of flash floods in catchment areas of the Chamba and Mandi districts, predicting a wet spell till August 26.
Heavy rain can result in landslides, flash floods and increased water levels in rivers and drains, besides causing damage to standing crops, fruit plants and young seedlings, the weather office said.
The hill states have seen extensive devastation and deaths in the last few months due to incessant rainfall.
4 KILLED IN UTTARAKHAND LANDSLIDE, ROAD BLOCKED
Four people, including two women and a 4-month-old baby, were killed after being hit by a landslide in Chamba in Uttarakhand’s Tehri district on Monday, police said.
Four bodies have been recovered so far and a search is underway for another missing person, senior police official Navneet Singh Bhullaraid said.
Some more vehicles could also be trapped as the landslide hit a taxi stand near the Chamba police station, he added.
The death toll in rain-related incidents in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand rose to 88 on Saturday with the recovery of another body from the debris of a collapsed temple in Shimla
(Image: PTI)
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an ‘orange alert’ for heavy to very heavy rain in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand from August 22-24. This has further put the two states on alert due to the widespread destruction caused by incessant rainfall over the last few days.
The death toll in rain-related incidents in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand rose to 88 on Saturday with the recovery of another body from the debris of a collapsed temple in Shimla.
“Isolated very heavy rainfall likely over Uttarakhand during August 21-24; over Himachal Pradesh on August 23 and 24 and over northwest Uttar Pradesh on August 22 and 23, 2023,” the IMD said in its latest bulletin.
The Met has also warned of moderate risk of flash floods in catchment areas of Chamba and Mandi districts and predicted a wet spell till August 26. Heavy rain can result in landslides, flash floods and increased water levels in rivers and drains, besides causing damage to standing crops, fruit plants and young seedlings, the weather office said.
Meanwhile, the weather agency has also predicted heavy rainfall over Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim on August 24 and 25; and over Bihar till August 25. Isolated extremely heavy rainfall is also likely over Sub Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim on August 22 and 23, 2023, it said.
“Isolated very heavy rainfall is also likely over Assam and Meghalaya during 21st–25th and over Arunachal Pradesh during 23rd-25th August, 2023,” the IMD said on Monday.
As for South India, IMD said light or moderate scattered to fairly widespread rainfall or thunderstorm and lightning with isolated heavy rainfall activity is very likely over Tamil Nadu on August 22, 2023.
It is to be noted that the Centre on Sunday approved the release of Rs 200 crore from the National Disaster Response Fund as advance assistance to Himachal Pradesh to help the rain-battered state undertake relief measures for affected people.
Hurricane Hilary is moving towards Mexico’s Baja California peninsula
Hurricane Hilary, heading to Mexico’s Pacific coast, has weakened but can still cause “life-threatening” flooding, US meteorologists warn.
With winds up to 100mph (175km/h), it is now a Category 2 storm, the National Hurricane Center says. Hillary is due to make landfall later on Saturday.
The NHC is already reporting heavy rain in parts of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula and the south-western US.
Hilary will weaken to a tropical storm before it reaches southern California.
It would be the first tropical storm to hit the US state in more than 80 years.
In its latest update at 21:00 GMT on Saturday, the NHC says the hurricane is now roughly 285 miles (459km) south-east of Baja California’s westernmost point of Punta Eugenia.
“Hilary appears to be weakening quickly,” John Cangialosi, a senior hurricane specialist at the NHC, is quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency on Saturday.
“The eye is filling and the cloud tops in the eyewall and rainbands have been warming during the past several hours,” he adds.
Hilary was earlier a powerful Category 3 storm with winds up to 130mph.
Rainfall could reach 10in (25cm) in some areas of southern California and southern Nevada, the NHC says. “Dangerous to catastrophic flooding is expected,” it adds.
In San Diego, the National Weather Service (NWS) earlier issued a warning for the “high potential” of flash flooding. Nearly 26 million people in the south-western US were under flood watch.
On Friday, US President Joe Biden said that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) had “pre-positioned personnel and supplies in the region.
“I urge everyone in the path of the storm to take precautions and listen to the guidance from state and local officials,” he said.
Parts of Mexico are under a tropical storm watch and its government has placed 18,000 soldiers on standby to assist in rescue efforts.
As the storm bears down, Major League Baseball has rescheduled three games in southern California, while SpaceX has delayed the launch of a rocket from its base on the central California coast until at least Monday.
The National Park Service also closed Joshua Tree National Park and Mojave National Preserve, both in California, to prevent visitors from being stranded in the event of flooding.
High waves caused by Typhoon Lan break on the shores of Senjojiki, Shirahama town, Wakayama prefecture, Japan, August 14, 2023. Mandatory credit Kyodo/via REUTERS
Japan braced for Typhoon Lan to make landfall, with airlines and railways cancelling services in central areas of the country’s main island, where it is expected to strike on Tuesday.
Lan, the seventh tropical storm of the season, was over the Pacific Ocean near central Japan, headed northwest at 15 kilometres per hour (9.3 miles per hour) on Monday, with a maximum wind speed of 139 kph and gusts of up to 195 kph, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said.
The outer edge of the storm is forecast to reach the coast of Wakayama prefecture around 9 a.m. (0000 GMT), then head north over the major population centres of Osaka and Kyoto. The JMA warned of heavy rain and winds, and the risk of floods and landslides.
Japan Airlines (9201.T) and ANA Holdings (9202.T) cancelled many flights in the path of the storm. West Japan Railway (9021.T) announced the suspensions of Tokaido Shinkansen bullet train routes between Nagoya and Osaka all day on Tuesday, as well as the Sanyo Shinkansen between Osaka and Okayama.
The storm comes on the heels of Typhoon Khanun, which meandered in the northwest Pacific for days before lashing southern Japan, then heading north to batter South Korea, China, and the Russian Far East.
